"H.S.: I painted
in the 1990s diptychs with
on the one hand, a bomb,
and the other, the impact,
tearing and penetration of
the explosion.
S.T.: There was, at
certain period, in
Hanibal’s work something
that precedes the
explosion. It is a kind of
sifted violence, whose
residue falls on the
canvas.
H.S.: In (Samir)
Khaddage’s work, violence
is in its initial state.
In mine, it's as if I
arrived 3,000 years later.
S.T.: Hanibal paints the
big bang.
Through incendiary
gestures, Hanibal Srouji
seeks to sublimate
violence.
Yet by using fire directly
on the canvas as a marker,
he uses metaphor to
suggest that with the same
tool, the same energy, one
can create or destroy. As
fire is certainly
destructive, it also
purifies."